Guide to be a winner

Catch Up On The Oscar Nominees On Satellite Tv

Sure, the actual nominations have yet to be released for the 2010 Academy Awards, but already the Hollywood gossip is spreading across the public and digital social circles, speculating on the shoe-ins, the maybes and the potential Oscar winners of the upcoming show.  Not to mention, with the Award organization expanding the normal five entry best picture category to ten films, there is no telling which movies will make the cut and which one will be selected as the winner, leaving the program with the iconic golden statue and the pristine title of best film of the year.

Correlating directly with the Oscar buzz is none other than an increase in box office tickets sales for the nominees.  A selection in any one of the numerous categories of the Academy Awards is almost a guarantee for an increase in attendees since everyone wants to see the films before the winners are announced.  Sometimes, movies that already left the theaters make a quick return to the big screen, to allow last minute viewings before the big day. With the current ticket prices, however, going to any movie, let alone a potential award winner, usually leaves a bit of a dent in the wallet. 

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Luckily, for the millions of cable and satellite TV subscribers, a majority of the buzzed-about, potentially nominated films are already being broadcasted on pay per view and other “On Demand” services.  So, any of the rumored award winning films can be seen on a majority of cable and satellite TV movie channels such as “The Hurt Locker,” one of the most gritty and realistic war films to come out in the last ten years and with an exceptional performance by Jeremy Renner.

Rumor has it that Quentin Tarantino may be up for both best director and best picture for his World War II epic “Inglourious Basterds.” Tarantino has not been nominated for anything since his breakout film “Pulp Fiction,” in 1992.  Although a lot of buzz revolves around Christopher Waltz’s performance as Nazi Hans Landa since he won the Golden Globe Award for best supporting actor, many people swear that Tarantino’s film will make the cut for one of the 10 best picture nominations.

Another recent release making the movie channel and pay per view rounds is “District 9,” Neil Blomkamp’s reinvention of the alien movie genre.  Setting the film in Johannesburg, South Africa, Blomkamp used stranded aliens and a stalled out space ship as an allegory for the apartheid of the 1980s. Although not discussed for other awards, many people believe that “District 9” will be one of the nominations for best picture due to its strong social messages.

Although there is still speculation, many believe that Pixar’s “Up,” will grab a nomination for Best Picture, becoming the second animated movie to ever fulfill a spot in the category.  Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” was the first animated film to be up for the award back in 1991.  In fact, “Up” is currently playing on many of the HD movie channels, so anyone with a high definition television can see the luminescent colors of the thousands of balloons that old man Carl Fredricksen uses to transport his house into a flying contraption and cruise the world.

Regardless of the speculation, the official announcements of the Academy Award nominations occur on February 2, 2010, and the whole world will be watching to see if the gossip and rumors were in fact dead on.